Main characters
Ivan Petrovich is a young writer, an orphan.
Nikolai Sergeevich Ikhmenev is a small nobleman, an honest and decent person.
Natasha is Ikhmenev’s daughter, an ardent and passionate nature.
Pyotr Aleksandrovich Valkovsky is a prince, a decisive, ambitious, tough man.
Alexey is Valkovsky’s 19-year-old son, a charming but weak-willed young man.
Nellie (Elena) is Smith's thirteen-year-old granddaughter.
Film adaptations of the work
In 1915, a two-part film adaptation of the novel was released, directed by Joseph Soifer, performed by a troupe of artists from the Solovtsov Theater.
In 1976, a television version of the Maly Theater play was released, directed by Evgeny Velikhov. In 1991, the feature film “Humiliated and Insulted,” directed by Andrei Eshpai, was released.
In 2005, based on the play, the Moscow State Musical Theater under the direction of Gennady Chikhachev staged a musical with music by Alexander Zhurbin. K: Wikipedia: Articles without sources (type: not specified)[ source not specified 3310 days
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On February 4, 2005, the Perm Academic "Theater-Theater" staged the musical "Vladimir Square", based on the novel. The musical «
Vladimirskaya Square
”
, staged in the best traditions of Broadway, has a truly Russian soul: everything in it is large-scale, monumental, colorful, bright and polyphonic. On a grand scale - scenery, costumes, choirs. But the main advantage of the performance is in the passions and feelings that are played out on stage. The heroes of the musical love so much, endure such terrible betrayals, meanness, betrayal, suffer so much, trying to come to terms with the cruelty of life, that the audience cannot help but empathize and sympathize with them.[4]
Summary
Part one
Chapter I
The young man is busy looking for a cheap, but certainly large apartment or room in St. Petersburg, since “in a cramped apartment even thoughts are cramped.” His attention is drawn to the tall, hunched figure of an incredibly thin old man, accompanied by an equally old and thin dog.
An old man comes into Miller's confectionery to warm himself. When he is about to leave, it turns out that his faithful dog Azorka has died. Confused, the old man leaves the candy store and the young man follows him to offer help, but he dies on his doorstep. In the old man's sparsely furnished room, a young man finds his passport. It was 78-year-old Jeremiah Smith.
After looking at the room and finding out its cost, the young man decides to keep it.
Chapters II-IV
The young man who was looking for an apartment is the young writer Ivan Petrovich. Being the author of the story, he returns to the past in his memories.
In early childhood, left an orphan, Ivan was brought up “in the house of Nikolai Sergeich Ikhmenev, a small landowner.” His faithful companion was Ikhmenev’s daughter, Natasha. Having the reputation of an honest and zealous owner, Nikolai Sergeevich received an offer from Prince Pyotr Alexandrovich Valkovsky to manage his estate.
To improve his financial situation, the prince married the daughter of a rich merchant, who gave birth to his son Alyosha. After the death of his wife, Valkovsky gave his seven-year-old son to be raised by an influential relative, and he himself became closely involved in his career.
Under the sensitive leadership of Ikhmenev, the estate flourished, and the prince trusted his manager so much that he rarely visited Vasilyevskoye. Moreover, the prince’s request to look after his son Alexei, who did not behave in the best way in the capital, was all the more unexpected.
The young man, handsome and charming, but at the same time flighty and weak-willed, fell in love with Natasha. Having learned about his son’s connection, Volkovsky began to spread dirty rumors about Nikolai Sergeevich. He accused him of embezzlement, “called Nikolai Sergeich a thief in front of witnesses,” and began a legal battle. After a while, Volkonsky realized that he had gotten too excited, but the mutual insults were so strong that he did everything to “take away the last piece of bread from his former manager.”
Chapters V-IX
The Ikhmenevs move to St. Petersburg, and after a four-year separation, Ivan again sees Natalya, with whom he has been in love since adolescence. He reads his newly published novel to his benefactors, and they are delighted. The Ikhmenevs notice that a sincere feeling is emerging between Vanya and Natasha. They sympathize with Ivan, but they are embarrassed by the instability of his position as a writer. Nikolai Sergeevich suggests postponing the wedding for a year so that Ivan can strengthen his status.
However, the happiness of the young was not destined to come true. Over the course of a year, Ivan never gained “neither fame nor money” and became seriously ill, but Natasha changed the most during this time.
One day, Alexey Valkovsky “found an opportunity to visit the Ikhmenevs,” and since then he visited them every day. He charms Natasha so much that she, with pain in her heart, leaves her father's house for the sake of love for Alexei. The young prince assures Ivan that he will certainly marry Natalya “tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” and his formidable father “will be angry and forgive.” The girl remembers her parents and is fully aware of “the whole horror of her act,” but her feelings for Alexei are stronger than her.
Chapters X-XV
On the fifth day after the death of old man Smith, a thin, sickly-looking girl in pathetic rags appears in Ivan’s apartment. Having learned about the death of her grandfather and Azorka, she runs away from the room crying.
Ivan runs out after her and runs into Ikhmenev on the street. Six months have passed since Natasha left, and during this time Nikolai Sergeevich, who was never able to forgive her, has changed a lot: he lost weight, turned pale, and acquired an extremely unkempt and absent-minded appearance. Ikhmenev shares his plan with Ivan - “to take in some orphan.”
Anna Andreevna, who has long forgiven Natasha, regularly receives letters from her, which Ivan secretly brings. He informs the unfortunate woman that “Natasha and Alyosha really seem to be on the verge of breaking up,” since the old prince has wooed Alyosha with a rich bride.
Part two
Chapter IV
During Natalya's conversation with Ivan, Alexey appears and says that he confessed everything to his fiancee Katya and there will be no wedding. Suddenly, Alexei’s father enters the room and, admitting his bias towards Natasha, asks to be her friend. He stuns those present by giving his sincere consent to the marriage of Alyosha and Natasha.
Smith's granddaughter, Elena, comes to Ivan to pick up the books. Wanting to help a poor girl suffering from a “slow, persistent and constant disease,” Ivan secretly monitors her. He finds out that after the death of her mother, Elena lives with the bourgeois Bubnova, who treats her extremely rudely.
By chance, Ivan meets his old friend, private investigator Masloboev. From him he learns that Bubnova runs a stash, and Elena urgently needs to be rescued.
Chapters VI-XI
Ivan brings Elena, who almost ended up in a “disgusting story,” to his home. He calls the doctor and finds out that the girl’s slight fever is not cause for concern, but he is worried about a much more serious illness - “something like an irregular heartbeat.” Elena is shy and does not respond to Ivan’s care. But, despite the outward embitterment and unsociability, “her kind, tender heart looked out,” and after a while Elena becomes attached to her savior.
Ikhmenev comes to Ivan and shares his intention to challenge Prince Valkovsky to a duel. According to a court decision, he must “pay up to ten thousand,” and for this he is forced to sell Ikhmenevka. But now, being an “outsider,” Nikolai Sergeevich intends to defend his honor in a duel.
Ikhmenev’s visit touches Elena’s nerves. She believes that Nikolai Sergeevich is the same evil person as her grandfather. The girl admits to Ivan that her real name is Nellie. Her mother, out of great love, ran away with some man, and her father, a rich manufacturer, never forgave her. After Nellie’s birth, the woman returned to St. Petersburg and tried to reconcile with her father, who by that time was bankrupt. But he, although he “loved his only daughter more than anything in the world,” refused her her father’s forgiveness. A woman, forced to live in bad conditions and beg on the street, died of consumption, leaving behind an unfortunate orphan.
Part three
Chapters I-IV
Ivan, Volkovsky and Alexey meet at Natasha’s house, who had not visited his beloved for several days before.
Natasha reproaches the prince for playing an “undignified, insulting game” with them - he deliberately agreed to the marriage in order to delay time and give Alexei the opportunity to become seriously interested in Katya. In feigned anger, the prince leaves the company. Alexey is very upset by Natasha’s words - he loves her and his father equally, and does not allow the thought of their quarrel.
Natasha calms Alexei, and he hurries to the prince “in the firm confidence that he will settle everything, arrange everything.” The girl asks her faithful friend Ivan to go to the countess and get to know Katya better in order to form her own opinion about her, to understand “what she is.”
Chapters VX
Masloboev comes to Ivan, but, not finding him at home, leaves a note asking him to come to him on an urgent matter. The detective tells Ivan a story that happened almost thirteen years ago.
Once upon a time, the prince had a common deal with a manufacturer, and decided to rob him. To implement his vile plan, he needed the documents of his partner. Having learned that he has a beautiful daughter, Valkovsky skillfully turns her head in order to “firstly, take possession of the daughter, and secondly, the documents.” A naive girl who believed the tempter steals securities from her father in exchange for Valkovsky’s promise to marry her.
The couple leaves abroad, and after them goes the long-time admirer of the manufacturer’s daughter - “a merchant, a young dreamer.” The prince, delighted at the occasion, accuses the seduced girl of treason and throws her, pregnant, out of the house. However, the merchant becomes a good patron of the woman he loves. After the birth of the girl, they travel around Europe, but their happiness comes to an end with the death of the merchant. The woman with the child in her arms returns to her father, but he never forgives her.
Ivan, in the company of Prince Valkovsky, goes to Katya. After talking with the girl, he realizes that she is smart, decent and very kind, and much more suitable for Alexey than Natasha.
After the reception, the prince invites Ivan to have dinner together. He feels an urgent need to “finally speak out, agree on something,” and reveals all his vile intrigues to his interlocutor.
Part four
Chapter IV
Upon returning home, Ivan finds Nelly in a fever. The doctor, who has not left the girl for several days, declares that “she will now recover, but then she will die very soon.” There are no means to cure her “organic heart defect,” and only the most favorable conditions can briefly prolong her life.
The girl is recovering, but sits “sad and gloomy” all day long. One day, coming home, Ivan does not find the girl in the room. On the table he notices a note: “I left you and will never come to you again. But I love you very much."
Ivan soon finds a girl who asked to be a servant to the doctor and Masloboev. Nellie does not explain her behavior in any way, she just constantly cries and gets angry. Natasha, having learned about this incident, explains it as the teenager’s first love.
In a conversation with Anna Alexandrovna, Ivan learns that Ikhmenev is already mentally ready for forgiveness, since “longing for his daughter has already begun to overpower his pride.” All that is needed is an external push, and Ivan offers to listen to the story of the orphan Nellie - her sad story can “touch an old man and move him to generous feelings.”
Chapters VI-IX
Meanwhile, Alexey can’t decide who to marry. Katya decides to meet with Natasha, and an explanation takes place between the girls. They come to the mutual conclusion that Katya will be the best couple for Alexei, and with that they say goodbye.
Natasha is having a hard time with Alyosha's departure. She admits that she never loved him “as an equal, the way a woman usually loves a man.” Rather, it was one of the manifestations of maternal love.
Immediately after Alexei and Katya leave, Prince Valkovsky comes to Natasha and offers to take a very active part in her fate. He hints that one “generous, respectable old man” is capable of becoming her benefactor in exchange for her compliance. Only the appearance of Ivan prevented the prince from further insulting the unfortunate girl.
Ivan persuades Nelly to tell the story of her life to the Ikhmenevs. Feeling emotional, Nikolai Sergeevich forgives his repentant daughter, and the family is reunited again.
Epilogue
The Ikhmenevs keep Nelly with them, and soon the girl becomes everyone's favorite. The family idyll is disrupted only by the orphan’s serious illness, which “began to intensify with extreme speed.”
Nikolai Sergeevich manages to secure a place for himself in Perm, and the Ikhmenevs happily get ready to travel, believing that “a change of place means a change of everything.”
Meanwhile, Masloboev informs Ivan that Nellie is “the proven legitimate Prince’s daughter,” since Valkovsky once married her mother.
“Three days before her death,” Nellie tells Ivan that she knew the truth about her origins all along. Her mother left her an amulet with a suicide letter, in which she begged the prince to take care of her daughter. However, proud Nellie did not give the amulet to Valkovsky. She dies without ever forgiving her father.
Style Features
The novel bears both traces of the influence of the “natural school” with its keen attention to the life of the urban bottom, and the literature of Western European realism of the mid-19th century, especially Charles Dickens and Eugene Sue, with their penchant for intricate “mysterious” plots, with the presence of a long-standing, unknown to the public , the mystery of the identity of certain characters associated with crimes and wickedness. At the same time, the novel already shows a heightened psychologism in the description of the characters. The characters, often without any motivation, are not just social types, but images of bearers of one or another kind of “ideas” or “main thoughts.”
There are also many parallels with Dickens’s “The Curiosity Shop,” except for the name of the main character. Both girls live with their grandfathers in poverty, they both have unlucky fathers, their lives end tragically. K: Wikipedia: Articles without sources (type: not specified)[ source not specified 1805 days
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